When It Rains
by Lynns
Summary: Continuation to 'Let's Take It Slow' While the rebuilding of the village continues, Sakura and Naruto are faced with even more grim news. Will they be able to overcome it with the help from others? Naruto/Hinata all the way


Series: Naruto, belongs to Kishimoto-Sama

Pairing: NaruHina

Beta: Narai Moroha

Author: Lynns (Inu-Hugger and Mysteriousgirl)

**When It Rains**

The clouds rumbled in the sky before erupting with bright lightening, almost shaking the ground below. None of the villagers even jumped at the thunderous weather above. It had been raining hard for three days, and rebuilding the village had been put to a stand still for now, however there was still a lot of work to be done. With the ground wet, it was a lot easier for Yamato to continue his job of filling in the crater that was once Konoha. Most of the rubble from the previous buildings had finally been moved and disposed of, and now they could start to re-build Konoha on its original foundation.

Kakashi turned from watching Yamato and continued his work along with the other ninjas, searching through the wreckage to see what had and had not survived the blast. A soft sigh escaped his lips, watching his footing on the muddy ground as he moved to a different location to search. During the attack, this was the closest he had come to being killed. So close that he had even seen his father on the other side.

One full month had passed since Pain had attacked and been defeated, however the sorrow and pain was still fresh in everyone's minds. Three days ago, a message from the Raikage in the Hidden Cloud village had brought even more painful news, especially for his two students. Sasuke was involved with Akatsuki, and now both Naruto and Sakura were heartbroken when they heard the news. No one could make heads or tails as to why Sasuke would join up with Akatsuki until Naruto made a comment about what had happened when he almost went nine-tails and about his discussion with his father. The masked person was the one who controlled the nine-tails, and this realization reminded Tsunade of a theory once proposed to her by Jiraiya – that Uchiha Madara may still be alive. Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Yamato, two of the village elders, and Kakashi himself met to discuss Sasuke's involvement. They threw theories back and forth in attempts to uncover his reason for working with the man who caused the nine-tails' attacks.

Tsunade had been very suspicious of the elders, for their eyes were downcast and any questions directed at them were not answered. It was obvious that they knew something. Threatened to have their minds read by Inoichi, the two elders told the truth but only moments before the leader of the Yamanaka clan could place his hands on their heads.

Thus, the true story behind the annihilation of the Uchiha Clan was unveiled to the group present. It was obvious that Sasuke had learned the truth and had joined up with Akatsuki to take his revenge on Konoha for Itachi. But the question was would he only take his revenge on the elders and Danzou for this treachery, or the entire village? Tsunade had dismissed them all, only after making them all swear on their lives not to tell a single soul of what they had discovered.

Another sigh escaped his lips, his eye looking up to the forest in the distance where he knew both Sakura and Naruto were contemplating what they would do now that their once comrade just might be their enemy.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?"

The silver-haired ninja looked up from his work to see Hinata walking towards him. She had an umbrella propped up against her shoulder as she carried a tray full of hot drinks over to him.

"Ah, Hinata, thank you very much," smiled Kakashi, taking one of the drinks from her and taking a sip. "Hmmm, that hits the spot."

"Tsunade-sama is suggesting everyone take a break for a while and come inside . . . she doesn't want anyone catching a cold."

Kakashi nodded. "I'm surprised that she's still here. Hasn't she left for the Five Kage meeting in the Land of Iron to discuss Akatsuki yet?"

The Hyuuga Heiress shook her head. "No, not yet. She wants to make sure that everything is in order here before she leaves."

"Well, hopefully when she attends this meeting, a solution can be found." _Though I highly doubt it; I don't think the five Kages have ever really seen eye to eye._

Hinata nodded and turned to leave but stopped suddenly. "Have you seen Naruto-kun today, Kakashi-sensei?"

The question didn't surprise him at all. For the past two weeks, Naruto and Hinata had been seen regularly together. Ino was convinced they were a couple now and giggled whenever the two were spotted together. However, Kakashi knew his student well, and to all of a sudden jump into a serious relationship was not like Naruto.

Kakashi raised his free hand and pointed to the trees. "He's still having a hard time with the news from the Raikage."

Even though most of the village was aware that Sasuke was now a member of Akatsuki, the details behind it was very tight-lipped to only those who had been in the meeting. Everyone had been warned, of course, in case the Uchiha was suddenly spotted near Konoha.

The Hyuuga Heiress nodded. With small sad smile on her lips, she turned around to pass drinks off to the other ninjas. When the last cup was passed off, Kakashi watched as she returned her tray to the food tent a short distance away and headed off in the direction of the forest.

***********************

The rain had completely soaked his clothes; however, he was numb to the usual chill felt when soaked from head to toe.

News of Sasuke joining Akatsuki and the real reason the Uchiha clan had been wiped out weighed heavily on Naruto's heart; just the simple thought of Sasuke becoming his enemy…

He could now hear Itachi's words crystal clearly in his mind . . .

"_**You want to bring Sasuke back, don't you? But what if he doesn't want to go?" asked Itachi.**_

"_**I'll do whatever I have to do to bring him back!"**_

"_**By force if necessary, eh? If all were to go well and Sasuke goes quietly, that is one thing . . . but what if it's the opposite? You said you thought of Sasuke as a brother. Well, what would you do if Sasuke were to attack Konoha?"**_

"_**What? Why would Sasuke . . .?"**_

"_**Sasuke is still pure. He could easily be colored by anything. If that should happen, would you be able to stop him? Even if it meant killing him? Could you weigh Sasuke's life against the village?"**_

"_**I'd protect Konoha! And find a way to stop Sasuke without killing him!"**_

"_**Such a child. You talk of nothing but pipe dreams . . . There are times when a ninja must make painful choices."**_

"_**Someone said the same thing to me before . . . but there's no choice . . . I won't bend my words - that's what being a ninja means to me."**_

_**Suddenly something was being forced into his mouth. "Mmph!"**_

"_**I've given you some of my power . . . I hope . . . the day never comes when you have to use it."**_

He let out a shaky breath, his hands clenching hard enough that he was drawing blood. Taking a step back, he let his body hit the tree behind him, his eyes turning up to the darkened sky. Piercing blue eyes didn't even flinch as lightening illuminated the sky before darkening once again.

"What are we going to do, Naruto?"

He didn't need to look up into the branches to know it was Sakura. How long she had been there, he didn't know. Both of them had been lost in their own little worlds since the meeting with Tsunade and the others.

"I . . . I don't know, Sakura-chan."

Pain's words of accomplishing peace – love breeds sacrifice, which in turn inspires anger and hatred – were echoing in his head. Sasuke had lost his brother Itachi, who had been forced to kill his clan, and now wanted revenge on Konoha. And, for the life of him, Naruto couldn't blame Sasuke at all for the hate and pain he held towards the village. He too now understood the feeling of revenge after his master had been killed. _No wonder Sasuke didn't want to fight me . . . I didn't understand him at all at the time. _ Anger – hate - revenge . . . it was starting to spread like wildfire throughout the lands. Would there ever come a time when people would truly understand each other like Jiraiya had envisioned? Would there ever be peace?

His frustration started to build as his mind went in circles, going over the same thing but not arriving at any answers. Naruto shifted off the tree and started to walk, not caring where his feet took him. Sakura was silent as she watched her teammate walk away for she could not find any words that could help or fix the situation.

The storm above fully rained on him as the tree coverage lessened. He could only perceive his feet splashing and the rain pounding. From a distance it would look as if the rain was simply pouring down his face, but upon closer inspection, there were also silent tears that sought release.

"Sasuke . . . Jiraiya . . . Dad . . . what should I do?" choked Naruto.

Naruto twitched slightly as he heard soft footsteps approaching him from behind and the tapping of the rain on an umbrella. Closing his eyes, he focused to see who was behind him but almost immediately relaxed. Naruto fully let his guard down as the footsteps came closer until a blue umbrella shielded him in a poor attempt to keep his already soaked body dry. Hinata said nothing as she stepped into his view, a worried look in her eyes as their gazes met.

The Hyuuga Heiress looked away for a moment before pulling a cloth out of her pocket. Wordlessly, she raised her hand and without flinching Naruto closed his eyes, letting her wipe the rain and tears off his face. Once finished, Hinata placed the cloth back in her pocket and with her free hand reached forward to grab his own. She started to lead him back towards the village, but he remained rooted to the spot. When Hinata gave him a questioning look, with eyes downcast, Naruto shook his head, not wanting to return yet.

The thunder rumbled loudly above before a crack of lightening shot through the air, but neither ninja jumped nor flinched from the loud sound.

Silently, Hinata folded her umbrella and let it hit the wet, cold ground. The rain quickly soaked her dark midnight hair as she took the few steps towards Naruto. The blond ninja barely moved when Hinata reached forward, sliding her arms under his and pulling him into a hug. His arms hung motionless at his sides, eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at the top of her head, unsure of how to react to this contact. No one had ever hugged him before like this . . . was it to comfort him? Out of pity? Before he could think more on the situation, her soft voice reached his ears.

"It's painful, isn't it?" whispered Hinata, her cheek resting on his chest. "When someone you love changes into someone you no longer know?"

_That's right . . . the Sasuke that Sakura and I once knew . . ._

"Before my mother died, my father wasn't as strict and harsh as he was a few years ago. He was always disappointed in my skills, but when she passed away on a mission . . . he changed. He became much colder, wanting to get revenge on those who had taken her away, becoming angry and strict with those around him."

No words left Naruto - all he could do was listen to hers.

"Even after he got revenge on those who had taken her away . . . nothing changed . . . revenge won't change what has already happened."

Tears began to leak out of Naruto's eyes once again. Even after defeating Pain, knowing he had been the victor and saved Konoha, it still didn't change the fact that the village was destroyed or that Jiraiya was gone.

"When we lose someone important, we are surrounded by pain and loneliness. We want it to go away by filling our thoughts with revenge, thinking that it will make it go away and will suffer others like we have."

Naruto started to shake.

"But, you know . . . I never once held a grudge towards the one that took my mother away."

He stopped moving altogether, the tears halting instantly. Questions were forming on his tongue, but he could not find the words to voice them.

"I was angry at the ninja that had killed her, however my mother was simply doing her duty, and he was doing his. I had to try and understand why he did what he did."

"But that's so hard to do . . ." croaked Naruto, his hands clenching into fists. He tried to come to terms with why Pain did what he did – it was his term of justice and peace – his village destroyed and parents killed by Konoha ninjas. Now that his village was destroyed and he felt the loss of loved ones, could he understand Pain's actions now?

"Yes, it is. Anger and hate are feelings easily brought on . . . But it is kindness and understanding that is hard to find. You told me once that Jiraiya-sama wanted there to be a time when people could truly come to understand each other and that your father believed you would find the answer."

Slowly his hands unclenched, memories of his fallen master and of the father he never really knew flooded his mind, "Yes . . . yes, they did. . . "

"To truly understand someone, you have to let go of your hatred towards them . . . and forgive them."

Naruto's hands suddenly flew up, crushing Hinata against his chest while burying his face in her shoulder.

"I can't! I could never . . . I could never forgive Pain for what he did to Jiraiya . . . to the village . . ." His voice becoming barely a whisper, ". . . . What he did to you . . . unforgivable!"

Hinata closed her eyes, not even blushing at the close contact as she embraced him tighter. "What Pain did was to purposely hurt others and make them suffer . . . after finding out you weren't in the village he could have just left and let the village be. However, to create pain for others, he destroyed the village."

His eyes clenched shut, pulling Hinata closer to him as the tears returned to his eyes, sobs wracking his body.

"Forgiving others for their actions is hard, it's very hard, and hating is so much easier because we shift the blame and pain to someone else."

"How . . . I don't know . . . how we can ever come to understand one another . . ."

"I – I really don't know either, Naruto-kun . . . it will be very hard, but I believe that you can do it, and I believe you will be able to change Sasuke-kun too."

Naruto stiffened.

"You have no idea how much you changed Neji-niisan with your words . . . he no longer hates the main family, my father, or me. He actually smiles now, and because of that my father has started to return to his old self again. He no longer disowns me or calls me a failure and now believes in me. . . . The hatred in the Hyuuga house is slowly . . ." Her hands clenched the back of his jacket, tears lightly rolling down her cheeks. "Someone who was so full of hate and revenge for his father was changed by you, Naruto-kun . . . So I have no doubt in my mind that with your words you will be able to help Sasuke-kun and change him back to the person he once a was!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open, a warm feeling washing over him as he remembered his promise to Sakura . . . "_**It's okay, Sakura-chan, I'll bring Sasuke back for sure! That's a promise of a lifetime!"**_

If possible, the depression he had felt earlier was now lifted from his heart, and the determination to bring Sasuke back to the village renewed. His arms pulled Hinata closer to him, tears flowing from his eyes but no longer from the frustration and pain he had felt earlier. "How is it . . . that you, Hinata . . . always . . . . *sniff* . . . Thank you . . ."

Hinata smiled softly, tears still falling from her eyes. "I have faith in you, Naruto-kun."

The two continued to stand there, both just concentrating on the warm feeling of embracing one another. Naruto's thoughts slightly drifted over to his feelings for Sakura . . . wandering back to when he had made her that promise of a lifetime . . . He had always realized her feelings for Sasuke, feelings that she still had today and feelings that he had forgotten she had, hoping they would shift to him instead someday . . .

It slightly hurt to finally come to terms that the person you wished would look your way and yearned for would like you back . . . that the person would never have those kinds of feelings for you. Yes, it did hurt, but . . .

_I have Hinata here . . . and maybe someday . . ._

As if on cue, the rain lessened into a light shower, and the thunder and lightening faded into the distance. His gaze shifted down, taking in the image of Hinata and him embracing each other. He liked this feeling - he liked being held by her. Her body trembled slightly from being soaked by the rain, but she refused to let go him – holding him to let him know she understood his pain and would gladly take some of the weight off his shoulders. Was this what you do when you love someone? To always be there for them? To listen to their pain? To comfort them? Hinata did all of these things without a second thought . . . did them for him . . .

A light blush crept to his cheeks as he let his hands caress her small back - she was much smaller than him . . . and having his arms wrapped around her . . .he felt so . . . right . . .

"Thanks, Hinata . . . I feel a lot better now . . ." he whispered into her ear.

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun. I'm glad I was able to help," she whispered back.

Smiling softly, Naruto was about to slowly pull out of Hinata's embrace so he could properly look at her but stopped when he felt something warm and soft against his whiskered cheek. The contact didn't last for long, only a second as Hinata had pecked a light kiss on his right side. She pulled away, her eyes downcast and a blush covering her entire face. "J-Just try not to get down on yourself and be the same old Naruto-kun that everyone l-loves…"

He felt Hinata's arms leave his waist, and the first thing he did was raise his hand to his cheek . . . still feeling the warmth left behind from her lips, his eyes wide with surprise.

"W-We should get back to village…w-we are kind of soaked," whispered Hinata, still unable to look him in the eye.

Naruto nodded softly, kneeling down to pick up the umbrella but leaving it closed. Hinata started to take a step towards the village but stopped when she felt Naruto's callused hand wrap around her smaller one, a big grin on his face.

"You know . . . I haven't seen you for about three days. How about after we get changed into some dry clothes, we go get some ramen?"

Hinata smiled, glad to see that the life was restored in Naruto's eyes instead of the soulless look they had moments ago when she found him in the rain.

"I – I would really like that, Naruto-kun. I – I 'm sorry I haven't been around lately, but I've been helping my family," explained Hinata, a blush still tinting her cheeks from her previous actions.

Naruto smirked and let out a sigh of contentment as they made their way to the village. "Ne, Hinata-chan, is it okay if I keep holding your hand? Even in front of everyone?"

The blush increased ten-fold from his suggestion and also the fact that he called her Hinata-_chan_. She was afraid that she would faint on the spot. Holding her ground, Hinata managed to stutter, "Yes . . . . I-I-I w-w-would . . . . l-l-like that, Naruto-kun."

Somehow through that little ordeal she had managed to keep her gaze locked with his, but her eyes widened as he brought their combined hands up to his lips, kissing the back of hers. "Great!"

Hinata took deep breaths, trying to control her hammering heart. Naruto simply chuckled as he watched her, his hand slightly tightening around hers.

"Did I ever tell you the time I gave my first kiss away? Although I'm told it doesn't count with another guy."

"W-What? How did that happened, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smirked, breaking into the story what had happened between him and Sasuke, then Sakura almost beating him half to death. Hinata giggled as they continued to reminisce about the past.

***************************

Painful tears rolled down her cheeks, her body wracking with sobs, her eyes watching the blond ninja walking away hand in hand with Hinata. They became smaller and smaller in her line of vision. Her chest tightened at the loss of something she never knew was there. It was ironic how true the saying was, "_you don't realize how precious something is until it's gone," _and now it really was gone. Watching Hinata kiss Naruto on the cheek had been hard enough, but seeing the soft look he gave her and then kissing the back of her hand had been too much. She didn't want to watch anymore, and yet she couldn't keep her eyes off of them. Never again would he ask her out on a date . . . never again would he blush when she sat close to him . . . never again would he think of her that way. She cried out her emotions, knowing that no one would hear her as she slumped against the tree behind her. Tears blurred her vision as she raised her hand . . .

"Come back, Naruto . . . please . . . I'm sorry . . . I'm so sorry I didn't realize it before . . . come back . . ."

Once again she had been too late . . . first with Sasuke on the night he left . . . and now with Naruto . . . both gone from her reach. For the longest, she had thought Naruto was simply annoying, always getting in her way and never understanding her. He was a prankster, and even though at times she found his jokes funny . . . she kept her cool to look good in front of Sasuke to try and get his attention. Those feelings suddenly changed the day he promised to bring Sasuke back, and her eyes had been opened to show that he really did understand.

After he had returned from his training with Jiraiya, she was once again confronted with her feelings for Naruto. When Chiyo from the Sand Village had said that removing the tailed beasts from the Jinchuuriki would kill them, her whole world had begun to crumble. The thought of Naruto dying shook her to the very core. Again, she was confronted when seeing him transformed into the Kyuubi with four tails. She had been scared, very scared of losing the Naruto she knew and cared for to the tailed-beast sealed inside of him. Never again did she want to see him transform into that horrible creature.

But he had transformed again . . . and now she had found out the truth as to why he had. Eavesdropping one day on her way to see her master, Neji had reported to Tsunade to tell her what exactly had transpired when Hinata had jumped in to save Naruto. Hinata had confessed to Naruto and attacked Pain, and upon seeing her cut down Naruto had immediately transformed.

Jealousy shook through her entire body at the thought. Even knowing of Hinata's crush for Naruto, she never would have guessed in a million years that the Hyuuga Heiress would gather enough courage to confess. Nor did she ever imagine Naruto returning those feelings to Hinata.

Now the two were seen on a daily basis together, talking, walking, side by side, though not showing any public display of affection until now . . . holding hands. She knew that Naruto would take things slow with this new development and not want to rush into this since it would be all so new to him. Not to mention the mess with Akatsuki and Sasuke still loomed over him.

"Sakura?"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked up, not even startled to see Sai standing before her. Sometimes, her teammate could appear and disappear on a whim without anyone noticing his presence. His face was emotionless as ever, but there was now a change in his eyes which showed a note of concern for her. He held an umbrella in his left hand while he extended his right to her.

"Are you alright? Yamato-taichou was getting worried about you and Naruto . . . but I saw Naruto walking with Hinata back towards the village, so I came looking for you."

Sakura sighed softly, taking his hand to pull herself up. "Thanks, Sai."

Sai nodded, "Shall we head back? It's almost supper time, and Tsunade would like to talk to you before she leaves for the Land of Iron."

Sakura followed after Sai, staying close so she would be under the umbrella. The sketch book under Sai's left arm caught her attention.

"Were you out sketching the landscape?"

Sai nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "Yes, I was, actually . . . but then Naruto and Hinata caught my attention. They were acting in a way I had never seen before, so I sketched a few pages so I could look them up later to see what it means."

Sakura almost stopped but snapped out of her stupor before continuing on. "M-May I have a look?"

Passing her the sketch book, Sakura flipped through the first few pages. Her eyes recognized most of the scenery drawn from around them, and he had even done an excellent sketch of the thundering sky. What made the tears reappear in her eyes were the sketches of Naruto and Hinata hugging each other, Hinata kissing his cheek, and finally Naruto kissing the back of her hand.

"I've never seen Naruto act like this before, not even around you, Sakura. I was hoping Kakashi-sensei or Yamato-taichou would be able to . . . . Hey, Sakura!"

She released the sketchbook from her hands, running as hard as she could towards the village. Sai just barely caught the book before it could hit the cold ground, a confused look on his face as he looked down at his sketches. He could not understand at all why Sakura was so upset.

Authors Note:

I edited this chapter a bit to fit what is currently going on in the manga right now.


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